I look around at other parents who really love getting down on their kids’ level and engaging in activities and imaginary play, and I think “I wish I loved doing that”.
Fact of the matter is, I suck at playing with my kids; and I feel bad about that.
I get no joy in “pretending to be a dinosaur” or imagining “the floor is lava”. Doing any kind of craft activity makes me want to run and hide.
Which is ironic considering I set up Happy Mum Happy Child to document the activities I did with my kids …
Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my children. I love going on outings together. I love reading and watching movies with them. Heck I even like baking with them (sometimes).
Despite the fact they sometimes drive me insane, I actually do LOVE spending time with them.
I just really suck at playing with them.
I love watching my kids play imaginary games though. Once my 5 year old and 3 year old came up with a game of “cemetery” where they pretended to be dead and buried in a cemetery. HILARIOUS.
Another time they set up all of their toys and lined up their Shopkins and had some kind of showdown where the toys took out the Shopkins one by one.
My kids imagination is phenomenal and I just can’t keep up.
My kids are loved, cared for and always have my attention when they need it. I’ll encourage them to play and if necessary help them start a game or activity. My thing is I just don’t want to do it with them.
“Maybe it’s because I always feel busy, distracted by household responsibilities or tired. Maybe it’s because I’m not a particularly “silly” person and I don’t fall easily into a childlike state of play. When my kids want to play a board game, I’m all in – but put me in a room full of Barbies and I can’t handle it.” – quote from a Scary Mommy article that perfectly sums up how I feel.
I worry that this fact will make me look like a bad mum; that it will make me look lazy and that I don’t love my kids.
It’s not that at all.
Follow me on Instagram stories to see more of the behind the scenes of Happy Mum Happy Child and my inability to play properly with my kids …
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